What if you could go back to being a kid? Not the insecure teenager concerned with fitting in and finding herself, but the energetic, fun-loving brat who couldn’t give two shits about what other people thought. The kid who had little concern for the distant future or past. The kid who lived in the moment and was entertained by the simple things.
What if you could go back to not needing permission and not worrying excessively over what could possibly go wrong? You would just do anything you wanted to do, and see what happens next.
What if you could go back to not having to worry about social comparison? Back to not caring whether or not you’re dressed fashionably enough to be regarded by your peers. You’d be like, “Look, we’re kids. I don’t know the difference between Hanes or Huggies, but I could take or leave either one.”
What if you could go back to being the kid who didn’t know what he couldn’t do? The kid with a great imaginative spirit in which anything was possible. The kid who desired to be both an astronaut and a Pokemon. Nothing was out of reach.
What if you could go back to stopping at nothing to get what you want? You see the chocolate chip cookies that you desire, and your only obstacle is that bitch in the kitchen who keeps telling you that you already had one earlier. What the hell is that supposed to mean? It’s later now and you want another one, got damn it. You would nag, scream, cry, or adorably debate until you got what you wanted. If it didn’t work that day, it didn’t matter. You’d try again the next day.
What if you could go back to being you? Not the you that you were socialized and pressured to be. Not the you who learned to live in fear and stay within well-defined parameters of acceptable human behavior. Not the you who can be judgmental for no good reason; just because the object of judgment is what happens to be in vogue at the time.
The you who had passion, the you who created her own excitement in life, the you who took no moment for granted. Who didn’t stay stuck in excessive fear when it came to what she wanted, but just went for it. The you who felt he could do anything he desired in spite of what anyone else thought or said.
This you didn’t go anywhere.
She’s still there. Trapped within that invisible web of perceived limitations. She’s waiting to break free, but she needs a little help. She needs you to take the first step, make that first cut, and she will burst through the rest on her own.
The first step in reclaiming this you is to simply ask yourself, “If I were a kid again, what would I want to do right in this moment?” Start there as a first step no matter how stupid it sounds.
Now, excuse me. I’m about to devour the fuck out of this Fruity Pebbles cereal.
“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.” -Tom Tobbins
Art of Sleeping Awake 